How Online Learning Works

What’s fascinating about online learning is that instead of going to class, the classroom comes to you. In fact, Ball State Online brings the university to you through our many support services, as well as robust academic instruction.

Online learning fits your schedule because most classes do not meet at fixed times. Students tell us our classes travel well. All you need is a high speed Internet connection—and a full battery—and you can access your classes at home, at work, or even at your kids’ soccer practice.

Frequent Contact

Our courses are created by Ball State faculty, with the assistance of instructional designers whose job is to help faculty find the right approaches and methodology to deliver their content online.

The rigor of the courses and the expected outcomes are the same as if you were taking the courses on our main campus.

Online Learning Prowess Recognized Nationally

And just take a look at our accreditations, rankings, and national recognitions to understand how seriously Ball State takes its commitment to high-quality instruction and engagement for our online learners.

A Peek into Online Classes

But what you probably really want to know is what online classes are like. We invite you to learn more about them now.

Until you became an adult and earned a little life experience, you may not have realized the importance of a college degree and what it can mean for your career. Now that you’re ready to jump into a degree program—perhaps for a second time—you may have a full-time job, a full family schedule, and commitments to your community.

How can you possibly fit collegiate study into your busy life?

Nearly all of our programs are offered 100 percent online. Unless you come for graduation, you make no trips to campus.

You can access course content at a time that works for you as long as you finish regular assignments and meet other weekly deadlines. Learn what online classes are like.

No one goes online alone. Our team from student support services will go the extra mile to support you if you hit a roadblock.

Ball State online students are naturally busy and driven to pursue goals that improve their lives. Like those students, you can do it, too.

If you thought taking online classes was a lonely experience, where class content is delivered in (yawn) static PowerPoint slides, welcome to online education—Ball State-style. Our online classes are a social space where you communicate with the instructor and your classmates regularly through channels such as:

email

discussion boards

file sharing

wikis

blogs

journals

web page posting

And if you don’t know what those tools are now, don’t worry. That will just be part of the learning process, and you’ll get guidance along the way.

Our online faculty—the same professors who teach on the Ball State campus—receive instructional support in developing and teaching online courses. You can expect them to use the best possible practices and the latest tools in your classroom.

Time Commitment

As a general rule, expect to spend at least two to three hours a week on assignments and readings for every one credit hour you’re taking. Graduate-level courses usually require more time.

Types of Courses

Asynchronous Courses

Most of Ball State’s online classes are taught in an “asynchronous” format. In simpler words, you have regular (usually weekly) assignments and deadlines that you complete at times and places most convenient for you. Because there is no specific login time each week, you can access course content at any time around your job and family obligations.

You may also be conducting a good part of your work offline. Assignments such as reading, writing papers, and studying for tests is often done offline before you return online to submit assignments or take part in discussions.

Fixed-time Online Courses

Some courses in graduate-level business administration, educational studies, or leadership programs are taught as fixed-time, online courses.

This means the courses are taught live on our main campus in Muncie, Indiana, and are simultaneously live-streamed for you to watch online. Classes are taught on specific days at specific times, usually after 6 p.m. You are expected to view these classes as they are occurring on campus, unless your instructor indicates that you can watch recorded versions on your own time. Muncie is in the Eastern time zone.

We recommend that you understand the course delivery options within the program you choose to make sure it is a good fit for you. Your advisor can help you.

Convenient Access to a Computer

Recommended Connection Speed

Recommended Web Browsers

Firefox

Chrome

Items for Online Proctored Tests

In some classes, Ball State instructors use a service called B Virtual to administer exams. You will need some special equipment, listed below, to use the service. Your instructors will let you know if they use B Virtual. Watch a video about how B Virtual works.

Also, when taking a proctored test, you need to be at a computer in a private setting. For example, a computer in a study room or home office is acceptable, but a computer in a public place such as a library is not.

Ball State students studying online have constant access to a mobile-friendly orientation
designed to increase your knowledge and confidence. As soon as you get your Ball State username and password, you can log into orientation and return as many times as you need.

Technology Help Desk

Staff members at Ball State’s full-service Technology HelpDesk are available to answer any questions. Students can access it by calling, chatting online, or submitting a web ticket. The HelpDesk can answer questions about:

When choosing which method of course delivery works best for you, consider your schedule, your location, and your study habits. In addition to courses on our main campus in Muncie, Indiana, we offer a number of other delivery options.

Our brand of online education isn't the lonely glow of a laptop in the wee hours. It's the opposite: we are a vibrant community of collaborative students and faculty members driven to be connected. Like our physical campus, Ball State Online is social as well as personal—we know you and your goals of a better career.
Online education gives you a way to finish an old degree or start a new one for the intellectual and career opportunities it provides.

Ball State's Online Learning Edge

Your online experience will connect you with instructors and classmates and provide many occasions to collaborate on assignments and participate in discussions.

Our online courses are the same university-level courses taught on our campus and taught by the same faculty who teach on campus in our 48 academic departments.

Your online classroom is a social space where you communicate regularly with the class through email, discussion boards, online chats, and other forms of communication.

Each year our online programs rank among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Ball State is not just an online university but a residential university in Muncie with a history that spans a century. We were among the nation’s first universities to offer online-only classes in the 1990s, and we offered our first all-online degree in 1999.

More than 10,000 students are enrolled in one or more of our web-based courses. About half of them are online-only students, and the other half are main-campus students supplementing their schedules.

Your online experience will connect you with instructors and classmates and provide many occasions to collaborate on assignments and participate in discussions.

At the Ball State Indianapolis Center, located downtown at Maryland and Meridian streets and just a block from Monument Circle, you can take courses for some of our graduate education programs and take advantage of professional development opportunities.
The Indianapolis Center is also home to Ball State’s master of urban design program and studios.

If you like the scheduling flexibility of online classes but also see value in face-to-face learning, a few of our graduate programs offer you this opportunity.

Some programs, such as our master’s of business administration and our master’s in public relations, give you the option of taking all your classes online, all your classes on our main campus, or a blend of both.

Earning a bachelor’s degree is one way to show the world that you have a broad-based education that goes much wider than the deeper, specialized knowledge and skills you learn in your major.

Today’s employers are asking for graduates who can think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems. Ball State’s Core Curriculum is founded on these life-critical basics. Successfully completing the core means you will be equipped to transform your own life—and, perhaps, your workplace or community.

The core is a required component of all Ball State bachelor’s degrees.

How the Core is Structured

Note

The core courses in this section are available for online or main campus students. You should work with your advisor to choose the courses best for you.

Tier 1 of the Ball State Core Curriculum includes the largest number of classes. These foundational courses include subjects you will need to be well-versed in for the rest of your college courses and in life.